The extracellular SEMA domain attenuates intracellular apoptotic signaling of semaphorin 6A in lung cancer cells.

Semaphorin 6A (SEMA6A), a membrane-bound protein, is downregulated in lung cancer tissue compared to its adjacent normal tissue. However, the functions of SEMA6A in lung cancer cells are still unclear. In the present study, full length SEMA6A and various truncations were transfected into lung cancer cells to investigate the role of the different domains of SEMA6A in cell proliferation and survival, apoptosis, and in vivo tumor growth.